Heck yes! I'd definitly be in. I tried to start a LW users group here a couple of years ago so I know some different places that might be willing to host. Unfortionatly, I doubt there are that many CGS members here in the area, heck, there aren't that many 3D artists in general.

bleumoon

03 March 2006, 07:06 PM

Yeah, I'd certainly be down for a Denver group. I am moving to Vancouver in August because of the very problem Chris has already mentioned. However, there is a pretty active GameDev group that meets at AI Denver . . . but you know programmers :banghead:

digitalfog

03 March 2006, 11:51 PM

Im new to the northern Colorado area and would definately be down with a local chapter as well as a LW user group. I seriously need to get plugged into whatever local happenings I can! Peace.

MechaHateChimp

03 March 2006, 09:44 AM

Well, I'm definitely down as well as my boy Ig. The nice thing is it looks like we are all LW users so thats definitely a plus. We should set up a meeting sometime soon. I guess if you want to post when the best time to meet would be... Im open in the afternoons pretty much any day of the week.

Hey Chris, were you at that Production IG thingy on Friday at CU?

chrisWhite

03 March 2006, 06:56 PM

Nope actually missed it, I had hoped to make it but work got in the way.

I'm going to have to look into the rules of the chapters more and see if all the members have to be CGS members. It would be great if we had a large group of CGS people here in CO, but as it stands I think we could do better without restricting the size.

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 02:38 PM

Fellahs,

I've emailed Andrew Plummer for more info on support for a Denver chapter. Hopefully we can get this going soon. Even if the chapter thing doesnt happen, we should still get a group meeting going once a month. It looks like we are all moving toward the same goal with our CG work and Im as serious as a heart attack about doing this CG thing full time.

If you need to get a hold of me at any time, please feel free to email me or shoot me a PM. Im on the forums almost 24-7 so you can expect a quick response. - J

lemonyfresh

04 April 2006, 09:19 PM

Thanks for the invite Chris P. I'd be interested to hear what you have in mind for this Colorado chapter of CG talk. I'm pretty slammed for time, so I don't know what sort of commitment I could make, but let's talk more about it.

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 02:45 PM

All,

Paul Hellard was kind enough to email me regarding our interest to set up a local chapter and will be passing this information along to Andrew Plumer the next time they are in touch.

To accomodate schedules, it looks like we will be meeting 1 day a month on Wednesday evenings. I'm trying to workout the details for where and what time, but I hope be able to acquire a space that has internet access and a large tv that we can connect a laptop to for viewing, preferably downtown. I'm hoping to post this information within the next few days.

Please feel free to PM or email me directly with any questions.- J

bleumoon

04 April 2006, 05:30 PM

Sweet, good work Joel :thumbsup:

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 08:47 PM

All,
It looks like we have a place set up to meet. The place is Cafť@Netherworld located in Capitol Hill. I havenít paid a visit just yet but it does have wireless internet access, a pool hall, and full service restaurant and bar.

We are shooting for Wednesday of next week (April 12th) for our first meeting at 7:00pm. This will be more of an informal meet and greet. Craig and I plan on bringing some work to show, and we encourage everyone to bring your own work as well. Iíll have a laptop available so if you want to bring some work burned on disk to share, by all means do so. Depending on the turnout and how well it goes, we would like to continue to meet once a month moving forward.

Here are the details:

Place: Cafe@Netherworld (located on the corner of 13th and Pennsylvania Avenue in the heart of Capitol Hill).

You can also visit the Cafe@Netherworld site at http://www.netherworld.com (http://www.netherworld.com/) for more info.

If anyone has any questions or comments, please feel free to pm or email me at anytime. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you... see you Wednesday! - Joel

Mklanglo

04 April 2006, 07:48 PM

Hi All,
I had no idea (since I am new to CG Society) that there were chapters around town and am so sorry I did not know about it sooner. Although, being in Fort Collins while it is not too far from Denver is still a little ways for me to drive at night.
I will check periodically to see if you might host a meeting somewhere else...
Thanks so much for all you are doing in supporting artists.

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 02:50 PM

Hi All,
I had no idea (since I am new to CG Society) that there were chapters around town and am so sorry I did not know about it sooner. Although, being in Fort Collins while it is not too far from Denver is still a little ways for me to drive at night.
I will check periodically to see if you might host a meeting somewhere else...
Thanks so much for all you are doing in supporting artists.

Hi Aida,
Thanks for your interest! At the moment, Denver seems to be the most centralized location for all of us. Generally speaking, its a drive for everyone but considering we will only be holding these meetings once a month, its not too bad. The next meeting will most likely be held on the weekend and we can shoot for an earlier time during the day, so long as it accomodates everyone's schedules. Definitely keep checking back in this thread for more details on future meetings and I look forward to meeting you soon. Take care - J

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 03:08 PM

Hi everybody,

Absolute BIG thanks go out to Chris (http://bleumoon.cgsociety.org/), Craig (http://digitalfog.cgsociety.org/), Igor (http://igorstshirts.cgsociety.org/) and Shane (http://shanesart.cgsociety.org/) for showing up last night. We were a small group but I have to believe that some of the most talented artists in Colorado where there. It was a great pleasure to see that kind of talent sitting in one concentrated area and it has definitely renewed my motivation for CG. For those that couldnít make it, we are planning to hold another meeting within the next two or three weeks. I will be posting details in this thread in the upcoming days, so please check back periodically.

Iíd also like to add that we will be working on a small project moving forward. No exact details are laid out just yet, but we will be finalizing a concept in our next meeting. The goal as a group is to create a 3D animated short. We will be posting concept ideas, sketches and misc artwork in this thread moving forward.

Thanks again to everyone that showed up! - Joel

digitalfog

04 April 2006, 03:13 PM

Hey everyone, it was a blast meeting you all and Im looking forward to working with each of you! Good time and big thanks to Joel for the brew! Thanks Bro! Folks better subscribe to this thread, gonna be some nice stuff coming from the Denver Chapter!!

bleumoon

04 April 2006, 05:44 PM

It was my pleasure meeting all of you! I'd have to agree with Joel, there was some crazy talent at that table.

I've got a couple of ideas rattling around, but only one of them falls into the scale of what we're planning on doing and would involve a lot of character animation . . . so I'll keep thinking. I'm real interested to see what this group is capable of producing :thumbsup:

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 06:33 PM

Most definitely!

Am I the only one that is still in awe of the fact that our tab only came out to $9? Nice to know that as gas prices go up, beer cost is at an all time low. :D

EricBartlett

04 April 2006, 08:39 PM

Hey guys, sorry I missed out on the first meeting. I should be able to make it to the next one once it get's a date. I'm also trying to get my brother to join the CGSociety as we both graduated from AIC in Denver for computer animation a couple years ago. I'm putting together a new modeling reel and I'd love to run it past you guys as well see your work. :arteest:

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 09:45 PM

Hey Eric,

We'd love to have you, especially with your background in animation... a gap we were definitely in need of filling! Your knowledge on the matter would definitely be a huge help putting an animated short together.

I'll be posting the next meeting date in the next couple of days. I'll send you a hollar as soon as its set. - Joel

EricBartlett

04 April 2006, 09:53 PM

Actually, I'm mostly a modeler. My bro did more animation in school, though we've both been doing more character models than anything else. The name of the program I took at AIC actually changed from Computer Animation to Media Arts and Animation by the time I graduated, though I mostly focused on character modeling. Animation is one of those things I keep meaning to work on, but I keep getting caught up in modeling my characters. :hmm:

lemonyfresh

04 April 2006, 10:04 PM

I'll be there for the next one for sure.

bleumoon

04 April 2006, 10:12 PM

Hello Eric, welcome to our little section of the universe. I hope you and your bro can make it to one of our meetings sometime. Everyone that showed up demo'd some awesome work, and we started to throw around some pretty exciting ideas at the end.

You do know some animation though . . . so that settles it, you HAVE to come now. That's the one area that our group is lacking. Even if you don't want to animate, you can be a big help for the other's who are going to tackle this hurculian challenge.

And to anyone else who missed the meeting and would like to come to the next one. Don't be shy . . . just speak up and we'll send you a holler when we set it up. Anyone and everyone who'll bring a positive attitude is welcomed to join in our insanity.

bleumoon

04 April 2006, 10:13 PM

I'll be there for the next one for sure.

Awesome Seth, I look forward to meeting you!

lemonyfresh

04 April 2006, 11:09 PM

By the way, Anyone who quotes The Onion is someone I hold in immediate esteem.

What's better than winning the Special Olympics..........................................

..............................................................................Not being retarded.

bleumoon

04 April 2006, 12:10 AM

Hey Joel, you forgot my Beauty Pass and now my ugly mug is up for all to see :cry:. Just kidding, nice pics. I'm glad that you had a camera to record our first meeting.

Heh Seth, I saw that comming . . . that's just wrong on so many levels.

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 06:25 AM

http://www.joelcarlo.net/temp/images/cgsdenver/concept-01.jpg

I saw that coming too :)

Well, I guess I'll start de-virginizing this thread with the first pic. This is a quick nasty sketch of the basketball turtle thing Shane was talking about. And just for the record, I'm not obsessed with turtles. I just think theyre funny in a performance enhancing hugs kinda way.:)

Still working on some sketches for the squirrel idea that Craig talked about. I spent most of the afternoon rigging and setting up meta effectors up in messiah. Im using a dummy mesh I put together in zbrush... still a little wobbly with it but Im shooting for a short walk cycle by the end of this week. I'll keep throwing ideas in here and post some more stuff in the next few days. Hopefully we can get a big pot of concepts to choose from by the time the next meeting happens.

digitalfog

04 April 2006, 04:10 PM

Joel, nice dude! We are going to have some fun with this project!! Keep em coming!

lemonyfresh

04 April 2006, 04:33 PM

Do you guys have a script?, What's going on?

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 06:24 PM

We are just throwing ideas up at the moment. We had a small brainstorming session during the last meeting so Im posting concept sketches of stuff we talked about. The whole point of this is to create a pool of ideas that we can pull from. The next meeting will be to sit down and finalize a concept that we can move forward with.

For the time being, I'd like to encourage anyone who is seriously considering becoming involved with this project to post any ideas that you think would work well for a 30 second animated short. Even if its just a random thought. It doesnt have to be illustrated... just needs to be a fairly simple rough idea.

On a side note, this is a link I ran into about animation/demo reel creation:

http://www.hash.com/users/threechickens/udemo.htm

There is some really great information there. For guys like lemon, its probably a no brainer since he already has his feet wet with animation. But for someone like me that is new to it, however, its an extremely helpful source of information. If you have a moment to spare, check it out and let me know what you think. And if you have any links to helpful tutorials or inspiring work, please post them.

Lets keep the motivation and momentum going! - J

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 12:47 AM

http://www.joelcarlo.net/temp/images/cgsdenver/concept-02.jpg

Some more characters concepts. This is for the idea that Craig came up with about the squirrels.

Hello everyone. Just thought I would drop in and say hi. I am new to CG Society, so I do not have much in the way of a portfolio at the moment, but currently I work for a local audio visual company; mostly doing CG work geared towards logo intros and corporate videos.

I really like the ideas you guys have come up for a short animation.

-mark

bleumoon

04 April 2006, 11:32 AM

Hi Mark, welcome to CGS. I hope you find this place as neat and interesting as I do. There's some fantastic artists here doing wonderful work.

Thanks for your comment about our short. We're still in the very early stages. We're just brainstorming for right now, and hopefully we'll have a lot more to show soon.

mbeazley

04 April 2006, 11:51 AM

Thanks Chris. Yes I am blown away by some of the works I have seen here so far.

-mark

bleumoon

04 April 2006, 12:36 PM

Here's a short squaty Mario concept I was thinking of . . . but I see a couple of problems with this one.

1) It's based on a pre-existing character.
2) The short would probably be around 1 min., a little longer than what we're aiming at.

Baisically I just wanted to start visualizing some of my ideas to try to jump start my thinking. Also, I couldn't let Joel be the only one posting up images :p.

http://www.digitaldreamer.net/cgtalk/mario.jpg

jay7347

04 April 2006, 12:43 PM

Oh man I can't believe it. I come out of my cave in the foothills and what do I find, other CG types... gee, I'm getting all goosbumpy! I don't know if you folks accept any ex-Rocky Mountain News photographers trying to make a career change to CG illustration but I sure am excited to see you! I'm west of Loveland, the town, not the ski resort. Capitol Hill is kind of tough to make, (2 1/2 hour roundtrip), most of the time because of CG stuff, family and ranch work. (We been remodeling a small broken down ranch trying to make it livable.) Now that I know you folks are here I'll keep my eyes and ears open for ya. I'm most interested in a Denver/NColorado chapter, just don't know how much I can juggle. My stuff can be seen at www.jkoelzer.com (http://www.jkoelzer.com). As I said, just beginning, got a seriously long way to go.

see you all down the road!
-jay

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 04:22 PM

Hey everyone,

Just a quick heads up. The next meeting will be Thursday, May 11. We are shooting for the same time and same place as before. Please let me know if this conflicts with your schedules so we can make accommodations if needed. If you are new and would like to attend, the meeting information is listed below:

Place: Cafe@Netherworld (located on the corner of 13th and Pennsylvania Avenue in the heart of Capitol Hill, downtown Denver)

Have you guys come up with an idea for the setting for the turtle. I am assuming it will be some sort of urban scape.

-mark

AdamHerbert

04 April 2006, 07:59 PM

Hey guys! Great to see other people in the area that have a passion for CG. I've been a member on here for a while and wish I would have seen this thread earlier. Oh well, I'll definitley do my best to make the next meeting. I'm down in Parker, so making it to Denver isn't too bad. Unfortunatley I will likley be leaving soon. I'm planning on going to Think Tank in Vancouver for their Fall semester. Barring a couple small hurdles I should be heading up there. I look forward to metting with you all. Keep up the good work on the short!

Adam

*Edit: I figured I should post a little info about myself.

I graduated from Rock Mountain College of Art & Design with a Bachelors in Animation. Unfortunatley the department was in ruins when I first began the animation courses. The head of the department at the time had falsified his credentials and created a mess out of the curriculum. Well he was fired and 3 fantastic aniamtors took on the task of rebuilding the department. Sam Flemming, Dan Seely, and Jason Lauve have since molded a great program. Anyways, I was interning at a studio named Tundra Media down here in Parker for a couple months when I graduated. They decided they couldn't lose me so I was immediatley hired. Now I'm looking to go back to school so I can concentrate on modeling and texturing. I learned Maya in school and have been using Max at work so I'm proficient in both. If you have any questions feel free to ask. And here is a link to a demo reel I threw together in about an hour. This was actually just to show a friend some of the work I've been doing so it's by no means something I would show a future employer. Much of the work is still WIP's as well. Any C&C is welcome though.

http://www.tundramedia.com/download.html

bleumoon

04 April 2006, 08:37 PM

Hey, more people! Welcome Mark and Adam to "THE" thread :scream:.

Right now we don't have anything solid in terms of what we're planning on doing. We're still in the brainstorming stages of the project. We're aiming at a 20-30 sec. clip to start out with. I think someone mentioned doing a Spy vs. Spy theme that sounded pretty interesting.

Anyway, the setting for the turtle was originally going to be a gymnasium or stadium. However, I really like the urban street-court idea so who knows. We also have a couple other options brewing; all of which should be hashed out at our next meeting.

bleumoon

04 April 2006, 08:48 PM

Hey Adam, you're heading up to Vancouver in the fall? I am too. I'll be going to VFS starting in August. I haven't heard a lot about Think Tank, but it looks like they have a sweet facility, and some solid teachers. There's so many 3D schools up there though, it's pretty rediculous. Let me know if you decide to go so we can hook up while we're there.

AdamHerbert

04 April 2006, 09:42 PM

Nice Bleu! Vancouver is the place to be for animation schools. We'll definitley have to hook up out there. I'm about 95% sure I'm going. Basically I'm waiting to hear back from my real estate agent to see if it's plausible to sell my condo down here before October and I'm waiting to hear back from the loan company. Once those items are all ironed out I will be set to go. So if all that goes through I'm probably going to take a short trip up there in June to check out the facilities before I hand over the first check. Should be a good time. I hear Vancouver is beautiful and has a great night life. Talk to ya later.

This is the first character I designed, I think its a pretty good character. Anyway, if you guys have any desire to use him in a short, I'm down. If anyone wants to put together a story for or with the penguin let me know.

He was built in Maya 6 or 6.5. I don't know what everybody is running, but this character is available if you want.

MechaHateChimp

04 April 2006, 06:16 PM

Hi Seth,

Your video looks great and you definitely know what youre doing. But we are steering more towards creating something entirely from scratch as a group. That means from concept ideas to final product. It looks like youve put a lot of effort into creating your character and movie which is a quality in high demand. We would love to have you attend the next meeting on Thursday, May 11. What we are hoping to achieve during the meeting is to finalize a concept for a 30 second short and move forward from there. If you have any alternate ideas floating around that you think would work, by all means, please post them! - J

lemonyfresh

05 May 2006, 06:28 PM

Sure, I just thought I'd throw it out there. The offer still stands, but I realize the drive to do something totally fresh. I'll see you guys on the 11th.

digitalfog

05 May 2006, 11:08 PM

Lemonyfresh

Hey man looking forward to meeting you and everyone else. Loved your short, got a good laugh :) 10 days guys! Jay if your game man we can carpool to the meeting, Im up in Loveland and am up for that, just LMK!

em3

05 May 2006, 02:32 AM

w00! I am soooo happy to find this post. Seems like I've been waiting a LONG time to hook up with some local 3D geeks like me! Can't make it tommorrow b/c of I'm a single Dad with 2 and this is my week :). I live in Highlands Ranch and work in Bailey ACK! Soon we are moving to Lakehood though. I will definetly catch up with you all next time schedule permitting. Exhale Dave...daVE...DAVE!...damnit man breathe!!!

digitalfog

05 May 2006, 06:06 AM

Welcome Dave! Hey the meets not tomorrow night, its next week, thursday the 11th!! Hope that works better for you!

And a little update, if all goes according to plan, Ill have the Turtle to show next week, knocked out the majority of him this morning. I ll post him here too!

chrisWhite

05 May 2006, 04:43 PM

Sorry I missed the first meeting, and I'm afraid the next falls right in the middle of finals, but once school's done I should be able to make it more often! Sounds like you guys got off to a really cool start! Those prepro graphics look awesome.

splitpoint

05 May 2006, 10:48 PM

Hmm. Stumbled across this thread completely by accident! I very rarely read the cgsociety specific content, lucky me!

Anyway, my name is Al and I'm located in Parker. I work in Ligthwave, c4d and EI. I'll try and be at the Thursday meeting.

A.

digitalfog

05 May 2006, 06:15 AM

Hello all, ok heres the turtle, enough done to show him off, sound off, what do you think!!

bleumoon

05 May 2006, 06:44 AM

Awesome start Craig! So are we moving forward on the Turtle Baller, or are you just mocking him up to see what he'll look? I guess we'll find out on Thurs.

Speaking of Thurs, I just found out that I'm not going to be able to make the meeting. The departmental graduation ceremonies are Thurs, and the overall college graduation is Fri. I have to meet my family for that, so keep me posted on whatever happens on the 11th.

chrisWhite: That's strange that CU Denver has a different schedule for Finals Week than CU Boulder. Our last day of finals is Thurs. In fact, I haven't had a final past Tues. in years, and the past year or so I haven't had any finals at all (yay for CompSci grad classes and art studio portfolio reviews) :shrug:.

em3

05 May 2006, 06:05 PM

I will see you guys on Thursday! Though I am a hobbiest, I love 3D design and animation. I have done a few things I am proud of but probably nothing on a scale that you all do. If I can contribute in some way then I would be happy to. Sit in the back and not get in anyones way, maybe fetch a round of waters for all. :D Most importantly LEARN!

digitalfog: I really like your turtle concept and prelim model. Funny stuff. I also like the "Squirels behaving badly" one. Lots of potential there too. Loved the last flight of the penguin. good stuff!

Awesome stuff Dave, you'll fit right in. My favorite is your comanche, although the depth of field seems funky. Usually you won't get such extreme DoF blurring at that focal lenght. Although it could be the motion blur, and the thermal distortion from the jet wash is a nice touch :thumbsup:. However, the whole no-pilot thing is creaping me out. It's like the Herbie of the skies :scream:.

Have you rigged those characters? They look like they'd be fun to animate, especially the gnome woodsman. He looks so expressive. The "creature" would look awesome with some TLC from texture & lighting.

It looks like you have some solid skills and can deffinatly help out. Most of us are just learning as well. That's the whole point of this thing anyway.

chrisWhite

05 May 2006, 07:20 PM

That's strange that CU Denver has a different schedule for Finals Week than CU Boulder. Our last day of finals is Thurs. In fact, I haven't had a final past Tues. in years, and the past year or so I haven't had any finals at all (yay for CompSci grad classes and art studio portfolio reviews) :shrug:.

Yeah it is odd, I have friends up at CU Boulder and I think you guys even have a different spring break week. Officially finals are over Friday or Saturday though I almost always have them done before then. This semesters a bit weird though for finals week.

Well, back to work.

em3

05 May 2006, 11:09 PM

Thanks bleumoon. DoF on the comanche is weird, I attribute much of that to my newbishness at the time. Thanks for the props though, I learned a lot on that project. I did rig my woodsman guy, HERE (http://www.davetyner.com/images/furryThing/bones02.jpg) - though I am still trying to get him skinned properly. The creature was part of my Master and Servant comp. entry that I didn't have time to finish sadly.

I am looking forward to meeting up with you all, what do I need to bring (sketch pad/stuff)? cheers.

MechaHateChimp

05 May 2006, 08:23 PM

Damn Craig, we may need to take that turtle to the vet.... cause its looking SSSIIIICCCKKK!!!

Seriously bro, your modeling looks solid :thumbsup:

Dave: Hey, feel free to bring any artwork youve made and would like to show/share. We will have wireless internet there and a few laptops so if you have a website, youll be able to log on with no problems. See you Thursday! - J

em3

05 May 2006, 06:37 PM

So we're on for tonight then? Who's in?

EricBartlett

05 May 2006, 07:10 PM

I should be able to make it tonight, though my brother has to work. I'll bring a test version of my new modeling reel on DVD(still rendering turnarounds :banghead: ), a CDR with some jpegs and my old portfolio from school. I'm going to swing by the cafe this afternoon to checkout the parking situation. See you guys there.

jay7347

05 May 2006, 08:36 PM

Aw gang, hate to say on the first meet that I've known about but I'm gonna have to miss tonight. Too many responsibilities on the ranch. Hate to say that life is more important than CG tonight... know that sounds like I need an attitude adjustment! ;-)
Hoist a few and be safe everyone!
-jay

AdamHerbert

05 May 2006, 10:57 PM

Damn gentlemen, things are looking grim for me as well. I've had some prior engagments for a while now that have been pushed back. I will try my best to show, but if I do it will be at least 8. Enjoy yourselves if I don't see ya.

Adam

em3

05 May 2006, 12:16 AM

Well I am stuck at work till this network install finishes. Hoping to be there by 8 as well. cheers

bleumoon

05 May 2006, 12:21 AM

Yeah, the parking at the Cafe sucks. If you can find a spot within 2 blocks I'd say take it. Sometimes you can find something in front, but don't count on it.

I won't be able to make it to the meeting, so someone take good notes for me :p.

EricBartlett

05 May 2006, 12:22 AM

Well, I'm going to head on over in a few. Probably get there at 7 or a little before. See you guys there.

em3

05 May 2006, 01:44 AM

I am still waiting on the F*CKING install!!! :scream: I will be here for at least another hour. That puts me there at 10 which I fear will be too late. Reply if you all will be there. I work in Bailey which is about an hour from there. Sorry, I'm tryin

lemonyfresh

05 May 2006, 03:58 AM

I'm bummed out I missed the meeting. I had to go to physical therapy for my knee and then I had to get drunk and pop pills till the pain went away. Well I guess I didn't have to do that. but I did. Any way that turtle is the shit! What software are you all working in for this short?

MechaHateChimp

05 May 2006, 04:10 PM

Sup peeps!

I have to say that I have renewed faith in Colorado artists and the CG scene here... I know for a fact that some of the most talented people in Colorado where at the meeting last night. Eric (http://ericbartlett.cgsociety.org/) made it out and pretty much blew us away with his modeling skills. That man has talent! Craig (http://digitalfog.cgsociety.org/) also showed us the finished turtle model which came out awesome. Shane (http://shanesart.cgsociety.org) worked a bit on storyboarding concepts thrown out by all of us and Igor (http://igorstshirts.cgsociety.org) is going to be completing the basketball court and layout by the next meeting. Ive been working on getting around rigging and animation and brought a small test of what Ive learned in the last couple of weeks. So we are definitely GO for the finalized 30 second short basketball/turtle concept. We will be posting WIPs in here as they happen so keep an eye out.

Also, I took some pics last night and I'll post them them later today.

For everyone that couldnt make it, Sorry we missed you guys. We plan on having another meeting around the same time next month so no worries. See you then ! - J

MechaHateChimp

05 May 2006, 06:06 PM

Pics from Thursdays meeting:

http://www.joelcarlo.net/temp/images/cgsdenver/cgsdenver-03.jpg

http://www.joelcarlo.net/temp/images/cgsdenver/cgsdenver-04.jpg

http://www.joelcarlo.net/temp/images/cgsdenver/cgsdenver-05.jpg

em3

05 May 2006, 09:01 PM

Hey fellers. Glad to hear the night was a success, I applogize for not making it. I was at work troubleshooting a network install of AutoCad till late. I look forward to tracking your progress.

digitalfog

05 May 2006, 02:57 PM

Just echoing J's thoughts, we had a great time, it was great to meet Eric, nice work bro! For those that couldnt make it, just watch the thread the next meet date will get posted soon. Hey Dave join in the fun man!

digitalfog

05 May 2006, 01:48 PM

Heres a post for grins.....LeBron Jams!

bleumoon

05 May 2006, 07:05 PM

Awesome job Craig! It'll be interesting to see how this thing turns out.

lemonyfresh

05 May 2006, 05:24 PM

I don't know about you guys, but I keep getting emails saying that people have replied to this post, but when I get here none of them are showing up in the thread.

This message, did post for me. Wierd.

EricBartlett

05 May 2006, 05:32 PM

The forums were spitting out a bunch of zombie thread notifications yesterday. I was getting notifications for responses from over half a month ago... :surprised

mbeazley

06 June 2006, 10:57 AM

Sorry I missed the meeting guys, my work schedule has been very busy; not to mention I was probably in some other city. ;)

I will try and make the June meeting.

-mark

MechaHateChimp

06 June 2006, 05:05 PM

Peeps,

Craig, Igor, Shane and I have set up a site for Colorado based artists at www.denverchapter.com (http://www.denverchapter.com/)

We hope to grow this into a networking hub for Colorado based 2D/3D artists. We are starting out small but feel free to register and contribute your artwork if you like. - J

*UPDATE
We had some server issues which caused quite a bit of downtime to the forums yesterday. If you could not log in before, please feel free to try again now. Thanks! - J

lemonyfresh

06 June 2006, 12:26 AM

Its the 11th of June and I had assumed that there would be a meeting today, but I'm not seeing any buzz about it. I might cruise by anyway and just see if there's anyone there.

MechaHateChimp

06 June 2006, 02:47 PM

Its the 11th of June and I had assumed that there would be a meeting today, but I'm not seeing any buzz about it. I might cruise by anyway and just see if there's anyone there.

Hi Lemony,

Sorry to hear about that. Please do not assume that meetings are held on any one given date.The society meetings are usually announced with a specific date, time and meeting place so if youre really interested in attending, your best bet is to check the forum periodically for news regarding when the next meeting will be held.

MechaHateChimp

06 June 2006, 02:53 PM

Hi everybody,

Just as a heads up, the issues with the denverchapter forums have been resolved and we are starting to see great activity already. The site is maintained by Colorado artists for Colorado artists and is aimed at becoming a great networking resource for any and all Colorado artists. If you have been part of the CGSociety meetings weíve held in the past or would like to be a part of them in the future, please feel free to stop by, participate and share your work. We will be announcing future meetings there as well as here along with a few other surprises. I look forward to seeing you all there! - J

www.denverchapter.com (http://www.denverchapter.com)

bleumoon

06 June 2006, 12:30 AM

Hello all, I just got back from Mongolia and a brief stay in China. Wow, what a place. I'll have pics soon.

It looks like I missed the launching of http://www.denverchapter.com . . . I'll have to check that out when I'm done here. It's nice to see something happening in Colorado for a change!

With that being said I'll probably not be able to come to any more meetings. The next month I'll be going back and forth to Vancouver, BC as I'm moving there for good at the end of July.

I'll still keep track of this thread, and if I hear of anything heading your way I'll let you know.

AdamHerbert

06 June 2006, 05:00 PM

Hey Bleu,

I've been having some troubles getting financing to go up to Think Tank. Mostley due to loan companies not having the school on their list of approved school. If you don't mind sharing, how did you get the money for VFS? You can also e-mail if you'd like. amherb (at) comcast.net

bleumoon

06 June 2006, 02:36 AM

Hey Adam, sorry that I didn't respond sooner. I'm not on my computer as much as I used to be as I'm too busy packing and getting everything ready to go. In any case I have no problems telling you how I paid for VFS as there's nothing "top secret" about it.

First, I have some money saved up from my old programming job. It's not much, but it was enough to cover the first couple tuition payments and a few months rent. Second, my dad and his family run a farm and own additional land in IOWA. I was able to get a loan for about half my tuition from the company farm. For the rest of the tuition plus my living expenses I got a TERI loan which is offered through the International Education Finance Corperation (http://www.iefc.com/us/tc.php?Cid=TCUGSA0002&Ccat=TC&CNTRY=US&studtype=UNDERGRADSA&SS=UNDERGRAD&ES=SA&LP=ISLP) (IEFC). Since I have no credit history besides my college loans which aren't paid off yet I had to get my parent's to cosign the loan with me. Unfortunately, I didn't see Think Tank on the school eligibility list for the TERI (IEFC) Loan, but you might want to double check if you haven't already.

I could have gotten a Career Training Loan through Sallie Mae (http://www.salliemae.com/get_student_loan/find_student_loan/training_loans/career_training_loans/) if I needed to, but since I had the loan from the Farm I have enough to cover my costs. I haven't looked at it closely, but the Sallie Mae loan looks like it would work for you. You might need someone to cosign it with you depending on your credit history.

Have you talked to an Advisor at your school? Someone from VFS helped me with my loan application and getting my student visa. If you haven't done so already you might want to try contacting the school to see if they have anything to suggest about getting loans as I'm sure it's a common issue for incomming students.

I really hope that you can get everything squared away. It'd be nice to have someone from Colorado up there to talk with. If there's anything else that I can do to help, or if you have any other questions (like housing) please don't hesitate to ask.

AdamHerbert

07 July 2006, 02:11 PM

Hey Bleu, thanks for sharing. Unfortunatley I've tried just about everything I can think of and nothing has worked yet. It's not looking good, but I'm not giving up yet.

MechaHateChimp

10 October 2006, 03:18 AM

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to give you guys a heads up and let you know that we decided to upgrade denverchapter.com (http://denverchapter.com/cgi-bin/forums/ikonboard.cgi) to a different forum and give it a new look. Old posts from the gallery have been transfered as well as user accounts, but if you signed up earlier, you will need to reset your passwords in order to post. Unfortunately, posts from the main forum could not be saved and theres still a little bit of maintanance left that needs to be finished.

There are some new features to this upgrade, including the addition of flash animations in posts. We are aiming to set the bar high and really make this an exclusive community for Colorado artists so if you have any suggestions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to let me know. Thanks! -J

joelgray

10 October 2006, 10:49 PM

Joel,

Thanks for posting this. The website doesn't appear to be up at the moment, but I'm glad to know there are fellow CGS people getting active here in Colorado. I'll keep an eye on this thread and hope to meet with you and other CGSers at the next chapter meeting.

Hi Joel. Thanks for the comps man! The short of it is: I am an enthusiast who does some freelance work occasionally. ;) The Kindergarten piece was something I did for my daughters school and I am about to embark on a similar image for her 1st grade class. I have been using MAX off and on since r3. My true love are graphics, design, and 3D work. I work as a CAD design lead for a oil and gas company currently which is OK. I just finished a video for an event at work here: http://www.autoplantxm.com/images/pearl.mpg

How about you? You're a pro for sure but are you working yet or still in school? True talent you have there my friend, big fan over here. :thumbsup:

joelgray

11 November 2006, 02:46 PM

How about you? You're a pro for sure but are you working yet or still in school? True talent you have there my friend, big fan over here. :thumbsup:
Well Dave, the short story of my career is similar to yours. I have a degree in architecture and spent a few years in the architectural world as a draftsman. I dabbled in 2D and 3D graphics for a while before starting my business. Iíve been doing arch-vis work for about 8 years now. The business has always been good to me, but Iím working towards expanding into the entertainment and product development industries. Itís a slow process.

I tried downloading your video, but the link wasnít working for some reason (maybe because Iím using Firefox). Iíll try again later.

Joel

joelgray

05 May 2007, 03:25 PM

Any of you folks going to SIGGRAPH this year? Just curious. I haven't been to the conference since 2000, so I'm giving some serious thought to attending this year.

Joel

jbingman

06 June 2007, 02:59 PM

I'm not planning on it this year - I'm throwing my $$ towards a new house. If I do go it'll be spur of the moment and crashing at becker's house LOL

also - tried the denverchapter site - is it dead? just bought another domain (all mine! mine! lol) and can host something if need be. lemme know.

Jay

em3

06 June 2007, 03:04 PM

I would love to go, though I won't be going this year. If I can con-vince my work to send me, I'll go next year!

MechaHateChimp

06 June 2007, 12:40 PM

Hi Everybody,

Didnt realize this thread was still active :) Just wanted to stop by and say hello. Its pretty nice to see that there are cgpeeps still coming out of the woodwork. Maybe if enough of us keep this thread alive we can relaunch a new denver site/cg community -J

bleumoon

06 June 2007, 08:07 PM

Wow, it's been over a year since I first jumped onto this thread. I'm no longer in Colorado, but I'm certainly interested in whatever you guys are up to if this picks up again. I'll be finishing VFS next month, so if I hear anything I'll let you guys know.

joelgray

07 July 2007, 01:52 PM

Hi Everybody,

Didnt realize this thread was still active :) Just wanted to stop by and say hello. Its pretty nice to see that there are cgpeeps still coming out of the woodwork. Maybe if enough of us keep this thread alive we can relaunch a new denver site/cg community -J

I'm all-in for that!

I was present at the founding of the Rocky Mountain SIGGRAPH Chapter several years ago, and although there's quite a few members on the roster, turn-out at chapter meetings is very low. Several similar organizations have tried to re-invigorate the CG community in Colorado, but their success rate has been low too. It's a shame that we don't have more of a presence because it seems like a logical place for CG when you consider all of the aerospace, technology and defense industries here. I'd be glad to brain-storm about building the community if anyone else is interested.

Joel

splitpoint

07 July 2007, 02:50 PM

I'd be interested. In the past I've tried to get something going with some of the PXC guys in Colorado and haven't had any luck. If you decide to move forward I can hit 'em up and see if they'd care to join us.

em3

07 July 2007, 07:15 PM

What is that about anyway? We are all passionate about the craft and it's rare to find anyone who actually knows what a non-uniform rational bspline means. Maybe I am just an intravert(sp?) =/

note: i never made it to a meeting :(

joelgray

07 July 2007, 07:30 PM

non-rational what? :shrug: Kidding... I never use nurbs.

Maybe after I get back from SIGRAPH I'll have some things to share and if any of you are interested in a meet-and-greet then we'll do it and see where things go.

Joel

em3

07 July 2007, 07:39 PM

ha, I don't use nurbs either but I love to say it :)

I would be down for another go of it. I have a lot of projects in my head that need to get out. How about Dave n Busters or something off of Colorado & I25? When is Siggraph over?

joelgray

07 July 2007, 07:49 PM

SIGGRAPH is August 5-9 LINK (http://www.siggraph.org/s2007/)

D&B's would be fine. It's only about a 45 minute drive for me (Colorado Springs).

em3

07 July 2007, 07:52 PM

Oh hell. I am in Highlands Ranch so we could all meet up at Lodos off Quebec and c470. It's right off of the highway.

em3

07 July 2007, 07:54 PM

OR further south for that matter...

lemonyfresh

07 July 2007, 09:33 PM

I'd be in to hooking up with you guys. What ever happend with that Basket Ball Playing Turtle. That character was sweet.

not that anyone asked or cares but I do use nurbs.

joelgray

07 July 2007, 09:48 PM

NURBS users aren't allowed into the club. Sorry.

JUST KIDDING! Let's tentatively think about a mid-to-late-August date, even a weekday after work is fine with me. Perhaps the week of the 20th onward?

Joel

em3

07 July 2007, 09:53 PM

cool by me. The 20th is a monday. How about the 21st?

joelgray

07 July 2007, 09:57 PM

The 21st works for me too. Lets see who else can make that date before we make it official.

lemonyfresh

07 July 2007, 03:44 PM

NURBS users aren't allowed into the club. Sorry.

................weak

splitpoint

07 July 2007, 03:51 PM

After work, any day (stay away form Labor Day), D&B's or Lodo's is fine for me.

joelgray

07 July 2007, 03:59 PM

................weak

I was just kidding - says so right under the comment. Sorry if I offended you.

em3

07 July 2007, 04:16 PM

jgray, you have a website?

joelgray

07 July 2007, 01:30 AM

jgray, you have a website?

Yes --> www.g3d.net

A more personal CG related website is in the works too.

em3

07 July 2007, 08:21 PM

cool man, nice viz work.

em3

08 August 2007, 09:57 PM

how many do we have coming to the next gathering?

lemonyfresh

08 August 2007, 08:55 PM

I was just kidding - says so right under the comment. Sorry if I offended you.

I am so offended. not really I actually don't feel that strongly about nurbs surfaces.

I'll go to the next meeting if it seems like enough of us are down.

joelgray

08 August 2007, 04:11 PM

I'm in the middle of a big project and pushing for an early September delivery. I'm up for a meet-and-greet sometime after that.

Joel

em3

08 August 2007, 05:17 AM

Sounds good ;)

MechaHateChimp

03 March 2008, 04:24 AM

Hey Denver peeps,

Just wanted to give you guys a heads up that our very own Igor Tkac (http://igorstshirts.blogspot.com/) has just launched an incredible blog showcasing some of the best concept ship art on the planet... no joke. This site will blow your mind... it contains high quality images by some of the world's most outstanding concept ship designers.

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